Shirley the Gnome comes up with fun songs about sex (mostly) here, there, and everywhere.
Times of discover News: The Surrey-raised musical comedian will perform at Vancouver's Hollywood Theatre on Tuesday, September 24
Shirley Gnomes makes time for the interview after a busy summer of fringe and music festivals across Canada, ahead of autumn tour dates and recording sessions for another album of humorous, uncensored songs.
The Surrey-raised musical comedian is booked for the Here, There and Everywhere national comedy tour in partnership with SiriusXM Comedy Club, starring John Doerr and Dave Merheje as well as special guest Sean McDonnell. The Gnomes will perform on select dates for the start of the tour, which includes Sydney on September 23, Vancouver at the Hollywood Theatre on September 24, then four cities in Alberta.
Gnomes grew up in the Panorama Ridge area of Surrey, went to high school in Langley and now lives in Richmond.
"I'm an older woman and I want to live alone, you know — I don't want to share a bathroom with four other people," she said of moving into an expensive house in Vancouver. "My bladder isn't the same anymore. When I was younger I could climb a very dangerous flight of stairs and get to the bathroom in time, but I don't think I can do that anymore." All jokes aside, Gnome is the talented writer of several honest and very entertaining songs over the past decade, including "Horrible Sex Dream," "Elegant Emoji," "Masturbation Over Breakfast" and "Sentient Dildo." In 2017 her album Taking It Up the Notch was recorded on 604 Records in Vancouver, and another album, Comedy Here Off?, will be in print last year. "We have a very good relationship, not only about the tour we're about to do, but also about the production of the album," Gnome explained. On stage, Gnome adjusted the performance to suit the venue.
"If I'm doing comedy club, which I'm going to do on this tour, I'm definitely choosing better material like that, material that's got a laugh every 20 seconds, the pace you get from a stand-up comedian. Let's do this. That's the hope," he said.
"When I do festivals, I can expand a little bit and I can do songs that can be a little smarter and more thoughtful, rather than being light-hearted, sometimes with a band," he tells Gnome.
Tickets for the Vancouver show start at $40, including taxes and fees, available at Ticketweb.ca.
"We all know everybody saves their money these days," Gnome said, "so first of all, anyone who comes is sure to get a thank you from the artists because we appreciate any kind of art and keeping the culture scene strong, you get that and then you'll get a really fun comedy night and different styles of comedy.
"I'm obviously the odd relative out in all of this because I do musical comedy, but there are so many comedians with all these different approaches and perspectives that will be amazing. And the theater, Hollywood, in itself is a wonderful place to be," he adds. "It's a very beautiful place, and people should come and see it, if they haven't yet."